One year after Techking’s Effiplus passenger radial was launched at Reifen China 2009 in Shanghai, the company known for its OTR and truck tires has news of further expansions in the range.

While the Effiplus lineup consisted of just 20 specifications 12 months ago, today there are over 100, with a number of sub-specifications. Speaking in an interview at the end of 2010, Techking marketing and sales director James Wang brought us up to speed on the latest product developments – including the new second life truck tire warranty – the company has to offer.

But first, how has the introduction of the Effiplus fuel efficiency-oriented passenger tire range been received in the market? As far as the adoption of the brand in international markets is concerned, Techking reports the first Effiplus distributors now have been appointed with one of the early successes being in the U.K. and Ireland zone. In addition to this British Isles distributorship, Techking has found partners in Italy, Spain, Sweden and Norway and is therefore on track for its first year target in terms both of the numbers of Effiplus partners and the volumes of the new car tires being sold.

The next target markets on the company’s list are said to include Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Kuwait, Qatar and Australia. That said, Wang shied away from revealing too much concrete information regarding the company’s currently progress in this area, rationalizing that growth has been expectedly modest at this stage and that the company is most interested in sustainable growth: “We have to be realistic about the fact that we can’t just work with anyone.”

However, the company has experienced something of a paradigm shift over the last few years. Techking is increasingly distancing itself from any associations with being a “cheap Chinese tire manufacturer.” The tire manufacturer is increasingly positioning itself on the basis of its overall quality/value proposition rather that its price entry point. On this basis, the company is said to be “happy to plan sustainable growth with the right partner.”

Looking back over 2010, Techking’s staff reflect that the OTR tire lines the company has primarily been known for until recently have continued to receive recognition from the industry, with certain OEMs, including Liebherr, reportedly returning to it for repeat business. And owing to the fact that OEMs have and always will call for demanding standards of quality, brand and delivery, it is some compliment that this is the case. But it also is worth pointing out that at this stage, these OE contracts are not necessarily the largest contracts. They do, however, offer good marketing value, and with OE customers responsible for occupying around 10% of Techking’s OTR tire sales, they do still offer a valuable destination for the company’s products.

Like passenger tires, Techking’s truck and bus radial range is also relatively new to the global tire market. And once again, the company continues to look for the right distribution partners to support this proposition. Once more, the company reports “moderate growth” but remains satisfied in taking a measured approach to growth and is not in a hurry to choose who to work with next.

Nevertheless, as far as product promotion is concerned, the company is offering two relatively unique claims amongst its peers. First, there is the decision to freeze the prices of its truck and bus products. In addition, such is the confidence it holds in its products, the firm is offering a “second life” warranty for its latest (second generation) range of truck and bus tires. The latter move clearly signals the company’s intentions to promote Techking truck and bus tires as both a retreadable and a multi-life product. It also is a further sign that the company is again seeking to distance itself from those Chinese tire manufacturers that sell on the basis of price rather than value.

Another innovation in Techking’s truck tire lineup is the tiremaker’s ENT underground mining tire. Unlike other mining-oriented products, this tire does not feature a completely bare and smooth contact patch, but rather has a purpose-built tread design developed with the rigors of the mining industry in mind. This targeted product already is said to be in use in Asian zinc mines.

Techking’s latest innovation in the EM/OTR segment is its TTMS, or “total tire management system.” This system, like comparable products offered by some of the leading premium tire manufacturers, centers on real-time measurements of tire pressures and temperatures. All this data is fed back to control room computers via GPRS for analysis. While the system was on display at the company’s exhibition stand at the recent Reifen China event, the technology also is already being put through its paces in real-life application tests in China and Indonesia. (Tyres & Accessories)